Congress and COVID-19: Is Remote Legislating and Oversight Possible?

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our society in the most profound ways, particularly in terms of the kind of direct, personal contact most of us have taken for granted. This change has been profoundly felt in how Americans interact with their government and how the government itself functions—or doesn’t—during this unprecedented crisis. After passing the multi‐​trillion‐​dollar COVID-19 relief package, House and Senate members left town, and legislative activity, including oversight hearings, ceased. Congress watchers have called on the House and Senate to resume most operations remotely, but can they? What are the practical, technological, and political obstacles to congressional remote operations? How can effective oversight be conducted from a distance?

Join us as an expert panel examines these and other issues impacting the U.S. government’s “first branch.”